Jane J. Carroll

Work Stress and Marriage: A Theoretical Model Examining the Relationship Between Workaholism and Marital Cohesion

Using structural equation modeling the relationship of work stress and marital cohesion was empirically investigated. It was hypothesized that work stress would have an inverse relationship with marital cohesion. Participants were a random sample of 326 adult females who were members of the American Counseling Association. The results of the data-model fit analyses support the hypothesized relationship. The coefficient of determination for the structural equation was 0.60 indicating a substantial degree of explanation for the relationship tested. Implications of these findings for future research are presented.

Depression and Parentification among Adults as Related to Parental Workaholism and Alcoholism

Investigators examined relationships among levels of depression and parentification in undergraduate university students. Instrument scores were used to identify participants as (a) adult children with alcoholic parents, (b) adult children with workaholic parents, (c) adult children with at least one parent who was both alcoholic and workaholic, and (d) a comparison group composed of adult children who met none of the other group criteria. Children of workaholics scored significantly higher on measures of depression and parentification, and they reported parents worked more hours than did parents of children of alcoholics and the comparison group. Children of alcoholics scored significantly higher than the comparison group on the measure of parentification. Children with parents who met both descriptions scored significantly higher than children of alcoholics and the comparison group on the three dimensions described and on combined number of hours both parents worked.

Marital Estrangement, Positive Affect, and Locus of Control Among Spouses of Workaholics and Spouses of Nonworkaholics: A National Study

This study compared a sample of spouses of workaholics and spouses of nonworkaholics on ratings of marital estrangement, positive feelings toward husband, and locus of control. A random national sample of 326 participants drawn from the membership list of the American Counseling Association was surveyed. Spouses of workaholics reported greater marital estrangement and less positive affect towards husbands and higher external locus of control than spouses of nonworkaholics. These findings were the first empirical results to corroborate clinical and case study reports. Clinical implications of these findings are also presented.

Drug-Dependent Homeless African-American Women's Perspectives of Life on the Streets

Abstract Results of this exploratory and phenomenological investigation provide an understanding of the meanings of “living on the streets” for drug-dependent African-American women in a shelter for the homeless in the southeastern United States. Thirty-six interviews were conducted with drifting and impoverished chemically dependent women seeking help for their addictions. The womens narratives were subjected to qualitative analysis and revealed ways of life that began for them in childhood and continued into adulthood. Victimization, first suffered and later inflicted, was mediated by their chemical dependence and is explained by the Maltreatment-Dependence Mediated Relationship Model (MDMR). Physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, as well as prostitution, robbery, and child abuse and neglect were commonly experienced or imposed on others. Addiction counselors are instructed in ways to help women such as the participants in this study. Building a network of internal and external sources of strength is likely to be a helpful strategy for women to use in such circumstances to develop more successful ways of living.

Homeless African American Women's Intepretations of Child Abuse as an Antecedent of Chemical Dependence

Knowledge about the etiology of chemical dependence is incomplete. This study examined how homeless African American women who have been professionally assessed and who self‐report to be dependent on alcohol and other drugs make sense of their becoming chemically dependent. The data were analyzed using phenomenological analysis procedures. The results show that interviewees perceived childhood physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect to be among the biopsychosocial antecedents to their becoming chemically dependent. Results have implications for theoretical understanding of the origins of chemical dependence within the context of childhood development of women represented in this study.

Criterion-related validity of the Marital Disaffection Scale as a measure of marital estrangement.

The Marital Disaffection Scale was administered, along with measures of positive feelings towards spouse, problem-drinking behavior of spouse, workaholic behavior of spouse, and marital status, to 323 female members of the American Counseling Association. Scores on the Marital Disaffection Scale showed significant inverse correlations (r = –.94) with positive feelings towards spouse and (rpb = –.63) with marital status. Scores on the Marital Disaffection Scale showed significant positive relationships (r = .36) with spouses problem drinking behavior and (r = .48) with workaholic behavior of spouse. The results support the use of the Marital Disaffection Scale as a measure of emotional estrangement in marriage.

COUNSELING STUDENTS' ATTRIBUTION OF DIAGNOSTIC CREDIBILITY TO CLINICAL SUPERVISORS '

Research on factors influencing diagnostic credibility has not been widespread. In this study, agreement ratings for a clinical diagnosis were compared for two groups of students receiving supervision from differently credentialed hypothetical supervisors. Implications of these findings are discussed relative to preparation practices and improving clinical practice. As 190 students who had completed either less than one-half (n = 112) or more than one-half (n = 78) of their programs in 9 institutions gave mean ratings of about 5 on a 10-point scale, they did not differentially rate diagnostic credibility of the hypothetical supervisors having credentials as psychiatrists, doctorate-holding counselor education faculty, doctorate-holding psychologists, and doctoral students holding masters degrees in counselor education.